PUBLIC spending cuts will make it "very difficult" for university funding to continue without graduates making a financial contribution, an expert has warned.

PUBLIC spending cuts will make it "very difficult" for university funding to continue without graduates making a financial contribution, an expert has warned.

The call came from Sir Andrew Cubie, the author of an influential report which led to the abolition of tuition fees in Scotland.

Those fees were replaced by the graduate endowment fee - a charge which was later abolished by the SNP Government.

But today Sir Andrew told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland: "I think we're back to a point where graduate payments are required."

However, he stressed payments should be made by graduates once their income had reached a certain point, and should not be up-front tuition fees.

Sir Andrew insisted any contribution should be "graduate payments, not fees".

His comments come ahead of the publication tomorrow of the Browne review, which looks at university funding south of the border.

That is likely to include proposals to lift the cap on tuition fees in England from £3,290 to at least £7,000 and possibly higher.

Sir Andrew predicted that could lead to institutions in England charging students as much as £10,000 a year in fees.

And he said: "That will give funding streams to English universities that Scottish universities simply do not have."

Sir Andrew said he had been "very full of praise for the Scottish Government in their view that they could fund from the public purse higher education in Scotland".

But he added: "I think with the impending cuts that will be announced in the comprehensive spending review on October 20, and the consequences of those cuts for Scotland, it becomes very difficult to see how we could sustain our present funding regime with no contribution coming from the graduate."

He insisted there was "abundant evidence" that graduates earn more than those who are less qualified.

And he argued: "What seems to me to be most important in this is that at the point of consumption by the student there is no charge at all."

He went on: "A graduate making a payment once a threshold of income has been achieved, and primarily quite a substantial threshold of income, but at a variable level depending on the income that the graduate attains, is a proposition that is indeed reasonable and appropriate to consider."

However he stressed: "The issue of any up-front payment should not be considered."

He also said it was difficult to imagine higher education in Scotland continuing to be "regarded well around the world being sustained in significant terms if we don't find an additional stream".

Sir Andrew added: "If we are seeking to enable our reputation to be maintained and to give advantage to the many individuals who have the capacity to gain from higher education, we have to have better funding. And if we don't, many fewer will be able to access higher education."

Glasgow University Principal, Professor Anton Muscatelli, has already warned a contribution from graduates may be necessary to to help combat the public sector funding "crisis".

He said last month: "We have to rule out tuition fees, up-front tuition fees, because that's against the spirit of Scottish education. But we may need graduates, once they actually leave universities, on the basis of their ability to pay, to give something back towards the cost of their education."

Education Secretary Mike Russell yesterday invited university leaders, unions and political parties to take part in a special summit in November, looking at future funding for higher education.

Mr Russell ruled out the use of tuition fees in Scotland in March this year, but he said: "It is time for everyone to come together to find the uniquely Scottish solution we need.

"It is my sincere hope that all political parties will set aside their differences and approach this issue in a mature fashion."